Mark Mahoney: Answers to the most common Springfield snow-removal questions

Friday

Feb 14, 2014 at 1:00 AM

Springfield's public works director answers questions about how the city plows the snow on days like today.

The city of Springfield's public works crews continue to tackle what has been a long and challenging winter. Through it all, they have stepped up to get the job done, and they have done it well.

Much has been reported about the drain on city resources — from overtime to salt to wear and tear on roads. But here are answers to the most common questions the city receives about snow-removal procedures.

When does public works start plowing during a snowstorm?

Public works crews begin clearing main routes and trouble spots as soon as snow begins to accumulate. With any significant snowfall, public works moves to an around-the-clock operation.

What are main routes and trouble spots?

Main routes are streets with the highest amount of traffic as determined by the city traffic engineer. Trouble spots include steep inclines, areas near hospitals and streets of residents who are on a medical emergency need list. Keeping these streets clear is our top priority until the snow stops falling.

How do I get on a medical emergency list?

Residents must submit to the city letters from their physicians indicating the need for immediate access to 24/7 medical care due to life-threatening conditions. The letters should be submitted to the Department of Public Works at MCW, 300 S. Seventh St., Springfield IL 62711.

What is the Emergency Snow Route?

When we are anticipating a significant snowfall, the mayor may initiate a "snow emergency," which requires vehicles to be removed by an announced time from city snow routes. Snow routes are marked by signs and also can be found on the city website at springfield.il.us/snow. Vehicles parked on the street are obstacles to snow-removal operations, and those that are not removed by the designated time are subject to ticketing and towing.

Why do I never see a snowplow on my street?

Public works generally does not start plowing residential streets until all main streets and trouble spots are cleared for travel. Plowing on residential streets does not typically occur until snowfall has ceased. Therefore, it can begin in the late hours of the evening or morning depending on the timing of the snow.

Why does it take hours for my street to get plowed?

With city resources and more than 625 miles of roads and 2,000 lane miles, it takes crews 24 to 36 hours or more to plow every residential street and cul-de-sac. The time it takes to plow depends on the amount and type of snowfall.

Why does my street never get plowed?

During significant snow fall, public works will plow every city street. As a general rule, residential streets are not plowed unless snow accumulation exceeds two to three inches or conditions would otherwise merit it. Also, cul-de-sacs are best cleared with smaller equipment, such as backhoes. Often, larger trucks will plow through streets prior to a backhoe being available for the cul-de-sacs. If a resident believes their street has been missed 24 hours after the snowfall has ended, they should contact our 24/7 dispatcher at 789-2246.

Why do snowplow drivers have to pile snow in front of our mailboxes or driveways?

While drivers do their best not to impede resident access, often due to circumstances it does occur. The focus of our drivers is to clear the streets as quickly and as efficiently as possible. Cul-de-sacs are particularly challenging both in terms of when they are plowed and in terms of placement of the removed snow.

How does public works know if each street is plowed?

Public works utilizes an Automated Vehicle Locator system that tracks each piece of equipment via Global Positioning System. From that data, central dispatch can verify when and where a vehicle has been. Also, we provide to our snow district managers a list of areas that are easy to miss and ask them to verify. Visual checks continue during and after snowstorms to verify that streets are passable.

Why do our streets remain snow-covered and hazardous for driving?

During the type of winter Springfield is experiencing, residential streets are likely to remain snow-covered for some time. These conditions are similar to years past when central Illinois experienced much longer and harsher winters. Given these weather conditions, winter preparedness is far more serious this year. There often is nothing public works can do to take the place of reminding people to drive for winter conditions.

How many snowplows does the city send out?

City resources can provide as many as 45 vehicles and equipment for snowplowing. Public works; City Water, Light and Power lake services; and an outside contractor all contribute to this number, which varies based on equipment and manpower available each day.

How much snow has to fall before you plow the streets?

During all snow events, public works strives to plow the city's main streets and trouble spots to bare pavement as best it can. Characteristically, for a smaller snow fall — two to three inches — we will not plow all residential streets because by the time crews get to them they probably are snowpacked from traffic. In those cases, crews simply are making the conditions more hazardous than snow-packed streets because plows can actually make the snowpack turn into a sheet of ice. Additionally, with the smaller amounts of snow, streets generally are passable, and it would not be a wise use of limited resources to plow them.

Will public works plow residential streets more than once?

As temperatures rise, public works crews work on streets to break up the snow and ice accumulation as best we can. Frequently, the warming temperatures tend to remove much of the snow and ice before we can plow every street again.

Why does my street never get salt?

Salt is utilized on the city's main streets, trouble spots and hazardous intersections as necessary. The city spends about $400,000 a year on salt and uses 6,000 tons on average. Salting 625 miles of streets and 2,000 lane miles is not practical. The application of salt also takes a toll on the condition of city roads and, when overused, can cause significant deterioration, resulting in additional road repair.

What do you use in place of salt when temperatures drop below freezing?

When temperatures drop well below freezing, applying salt to streets is ineffective. A liquid calcium mix is sometimes applied to trouble spots when temperatures drop to that level. This is used only for the most hazardous areas because of the harsh effect its use has on the streets.

How was the strategy of removing snow developed?

The strategy of focusing on priority streets and then moving to side streets has been long standing and similar to how most communities practically approach snow removal. The streets division operations coordinator, who is in charge of our snow removal operation, has more than 30 years of experience at public works and has overseen snow removal for three years. Public works also is part of the American Public Works Association to annually evaluate and compare Springfield's operation to other cities.

While there are many variations to winter storms, as a general rule the procedures explained here lay out the approach to snow removal with the resources that are available to the Springfield public works crews. We are always open to suggestions on how we can improve the process and encourage any who have such recommendations to please call us at 789-2255.